NLS - Gold Standard Thinkers (July 2016)

North Lakes School has been awarded the prestigious SAPERE Gold School award for their work and commitment to Philosophy for Children (P4C) throughout the school. North Lakes are one of 7 schools in the country to receive this Gold Award and join Armathwaite Primary as one of only two in Cumbria.

The award is validated by the national charity for P4C known as SAPERE (Society for the Advancement of Philosophical Enquiry and Reflection in Education) and it provides schools with three stages of progression towards achieving outstanding practice. North Lakes School been awarded the SAPERE Gold Award at the end of a long journey, as a pilot for Bronze status and then one of the first to be accredited the Silver Award.

The Gold Award is for schools that have fully embedded P4C, which is reflected in the school ethos, strategy, teaching and learning. Gold Award schools demonstrate that P4C is sustainable and provide leadership to others as ambassadors of P4C. Allison Hall (SAPERE Award Assessor) visited the school and was particularly impressed with the long-term commitment over many years that North Lakes school has demonstrated to the P4C approach. She was particularly impressed with the prominence of P4C on the school’s website which conveys the importance of P4C as part of children's learning as well as the innovative introduction of the new Frog learning platform for digitally enhanced enquiries.

Alison Allsop (SAPERE Training Manager) commented that North Lakes features clear signs of being a P4C Gold School.

Martyn Soulsby, P4C Co-ordinator at North Lakes School, said: “We’re delighted to receive this award as a SAPERE Gold School and would like to thank our whole school community who have played a significant role in our journey”

Mike Pincombe, Headteacher at North Lakes said, “This is a really pleasing recognition of the active involvement of children in thinking and learning, as well as a lot of hard work by staff to provide engaging and challenging opportunities for pupils. I would like to thank all staff and congratulate the children at the end of a successful year in school.”